ADR: Additional Dialogue Recording, redoing problem spots in the original dialogue. Sometimes referred to as Automatic Dialogue Replacement. This process was originally called “looping.” A short segment of film (or video) is looped over and over while the actor performs the line until it is in sync. Using this technique, only about a dozen lines can be recorded per hour, and it is mostly used in original language productions to re-record dialogue that may have been distorted or otherwise spoiled at the initial recording.
Ambience: A group of actors performing the sounds of a crowd, or small incidental parts in show.
Dubbing: 1. redoing the entire dialogue in a different language, mixing and adding it to the original music and effects. Also could apply to dialogue in animation, if the animation has already been done. Sometimes referred to as Foreign Dialogue Replacement; 2. Loosely defined as adding a voice to any character talking, sometimes also referred to as “revoicing” to differentiate it from 3. In film and video post-production, the term “dubbing” refers to the final mixing of a soundtrack.
DAW: Digital Audio Workstation
EDL: Edit Decision List. This is a list of sounrce and destination in/out time codes that describes what changes need to be done to a show. Consider the following EDL:
What happens here is that we have two versions of a show: a preliminary one, named Source, and a final one, named Destination. There have been some changes between the two, and the timecodes no longer correspond exactly. Using a comforming software like Conformalizer, we can visually compare the two versions and find out how the new cuts correspond to each other. Line 1 tells us that between the in/out times of the Source and Destination, the picture is the same. There is a change on line 2, something has been added in the Destination that does not exist in the preliminary version. On line 3 there is again a correspondence between the two versions.
Foley: This isn’t something that voice actors do. It’s the sound-effects equivalent of voice dubbing, where a piece of celery might stand in for footsteps on snow, or a heavy bag makes the sound of a falling body. On the studio end of things, the processes are very similar.
Line: a line is 50 keyboard strokes of articulated as well as non-verbal sounds. More particularly,
- Three words or more, up to 50 keyboard strokes make up a line;
- When there are less than 3 words, each word is equal to 1/3rd of a line;
- Any part of a word, reaction, onomatopoeia, or audible breathing equals one word;
- The final count is rounded up to the line.
Lip flap: Lip movement. When dubbing, your words should match the movements of the original dialog. Sometimes it calls for skillful revision of the script. Sometimes it involves the actor adding various non-verbal sounds such as “um,” or “eh” or a grunt, in a natural-sounding way.
Localization – The process of adapting a production for use in another culture or geographic location. Usually this means dubbing it in another language or by a regional celebrity, but localization can also involve changes in editing, scripting, etc., to suit local sensibilities and interests. Whether a movie or TV show is dubbed or subtitled depends on economics, the audience, locally spoken languages, audience preference, politics or legal requirements, and other factors.
M&E stems: Music & Effects are provided apart from dialogue for international releases. See more about stems below.
One Take Wonder: a dubbing pro who can act with emotion and energy, stay in character, do multiple characters, and perform in asingle take.
Rythmo (Traditional): The traditional rythmo band is a transparent 35mm film on which the text has been calligraphed by hand. The rythmo band is projected on a large screen in sync with the picture. As the text scrolls it passes the sync line, at which point the actor is supposed to pronounce his or her lines exactly, to the letter. This allows a for a very precise synchronisation of the dialogue and eliminates the need to look at a printed script and remember cue points, as is the case with the sync beep method. The Rythmo enables the actor to record many more lines per hour, but it also takes a lot more time to prepare.
Rythmo Band Notation: Rythmo bands have a specific syntax that facilitates the actor’s performance. There are indications of when the mouth is open or closed, when to slow down (the letters get longer) and when to speed up (the words are closer together), when to cough, sneeze, breathe, swallow, laugh with the mouth open / closed, sigh, react, sniff, kiss, drink, smoke, puff, suffer, etc.
A few examples:
Regular text: We see the character’s mouth, and therefore the actor needs to be as exact as possible.
Underlined text: the character is offscreen or his mouth is not visible: synchronisation is not critical
Dotted line: continue action until marked.
Josh : (laughing)- - - - - - - - - - -> (end)
Mouth noise indications: ↑hh = inhale ↓hh = exhale, pte or mph = lip smack, ø = abrupt closing of the mouth.
Spotting: Watching for and notating events on the screen. For example, spotting for footsteps means marking down every instance where footsteps occur.
Stem: There are three audio elements to a show: Music, Effects, and Dialogue. In a production, each of those are handled separately by different departments, and are combined at the end by the chief sound mixer or sound designer. Each of the three elements can contain a number of tracks, and that bunch of tracks is called a stem.
Sync (or sometimes synch): Synchronization.
Sync-Beep/Wipe: The sync-beep/wipe method is used mostly for ADR and in some instances for dubbing, when a rythmo is not available. It does not guarantee the exact timing of the rythmo band, but is the traditional dubbing method in some countries. Typically, there are three consecutive beeps and a visual wipe or countdown to cue the actor to the starting point of the line she / he is supposed to read (as in “3-2-1-Go!”). For longer projects the disadvantage of using a sync beep is that the actors need to retain a lot of extra information such as time codes and details about the scene that are otherwise immediately available on a rythmo band. When dubbing a large number of lines, an actor will require more time with a sync-beep/wipe because the text is broken down into “takes,” essentially into individual sentences.
Time Code Burn-In (TCBI): A superimposition of a show's time code (in hours:minutes:seconds:frames) onto the picture. TCBI is used during the production stage as a sync reference between sound and picture. Unless the client has specified a preference for a specific frame rate, a post house will have pre-established standards for different types of shows. For example, if the final result is a theatrical feature that will plau back at 24 fps, the in-house reference for audio post might be at 29.97 fps, non-drop, with 1% pulldown. (more details)
VO: Voice Over, where the original mix is audible underneath the foreign language: i.e. "Home Improvement" will not be 'dubbed' in German according to our definition, but rather an actor will read a translation on top of the original audio
Walla: a sound effect imitating the jabber of a crowd in the background. The term comes from actors sometimes actually saying “walla walla walla,” although various other phrases are also commonly used, such as “peas and carrots” or “natter grommish.” However, a walla group will often just mumble or say nonsense words, since actually recognizing any of these stock sounds again and again would be artificial and distracting. The choice of vocalizations may depend on the scene – din in a busy hospital corridor doesn’t sound like a children’s playground. Another consideration is that real words in the background can be distracting in an audio-only medium such as radio, whereas in film the audience focuses on the visual, and background conversation might even be partially scripted.